The present invention relates to product handling systems and, more particularly, to food product handling systems that receive individual product items, accumulate the items into groups and transfer the groups to a packing receptacle.
Systems for packing food product items, and in particular food product items of uniform size and shape, typically consist of a bin or other large container for receiving the individual food items, a device for receiving the food items from the bin and arranging the food items uniformly, and a device for receiving the arranged food items and accumulating the items into groups that are packed in containers. Typical of such systems are systems for packaging frankfurters.
Initially, cooked frankfurters are dumped into a large container. That container includes an opening near the bottom and a feed mechanism for depositing the frankfurters on a conveyer system. The conveyer system includes a plurality of belts positioned to receive the frankfurters and align them in an end-to-end orientation in a single line, or multiple lines of single frankfurters. The belts deposit the frankfurters onto a second belt having a plurality of transverse, raised ribs that receive the frankfurters and orient the frankfurters in a parallel orientation. The second belt deposits the frankfurters into a filler head where the frankfurters are collected into groups of several frankfurters (e.g., five frankfurters in a group) and the groups are then deposited into a receptacle having cavities corresponding to the size of the groups. The cavities are lined with plastic material that is used to package the groups of frankfurters for subsequent sale.
An example of such a filler head systems is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,893,259. That patent shows a filler head that receives cooked frankfurters from an input conveyer and collects the franks in a cage formed by individual rails. The frankfurters are retained in the cage by an index pusher. When a predetermined number of franks have been collected, the index pusher is cycled and conveys the franks onto staging area. The franks in the staging area are retained on spring loaded doors. Groups of franks are arranged in the staging area by an index lug chain. When a predetermined number of groups have been accumulated on the staging area, a ram is cycled to displace the groups downwardly through the spring loaded doors into a receptacle for packing.
A disadvantage with such systems is that a ram is required to displace food product items to the receptacle, which adds to the cost and shows the operation of the device. Accordingly, there is a need for a filler head system and method that maximizes the filling of the receptacle. There is also a need for an efficient system and method for rapidly filling a receptacle with multiple layers of food items such as frankfurters.